There is still no final result but here is where the candidates stand this morning according to Election Resources:
- François Hollande (PS) 28.6% (10,159,385)
- Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) 27.1% (9,600,543)
- Marine Le Pen (FN) 18.0% (6,397,778)
- Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Left Front) 11.1% (3,951,795)
- François Bayrou (MoDem) 9.1% (3,229,482)
- Eva Joly (Green) 2.3% (806,504)
- Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Arise the Republic) 1.8% (638,938)
- Philippe Poutou (New Anti-Capitalist) 1.2% (408,335)
- Nathalie Arthaud (Workers Struggle) 0.6% (201,425)
- Jacques Cheminade (Solidarity & Progress) 0.2% (88,115)
It looks like that Sarkozy is closer to Hollande then first suggested by the exit polls. But still, with Hollande on over 10 million votes, it means that Sarkozy will have to work very hard to win over some of the 6 million that voted for Le Pen.
There is no doubt that Marine Le Pen did something historic yesterday, getting both the largest vote for La Front National and ensuring that they will be a loud voice of opposition if Francois Hollande does win the 2nd round on May 6th. She has ensured the the FN will be a force to reckon with in upcoming elections as the smaller parties, especially the Europe Écologie–The Greens who did so well in the 2009 European Parliament elections, failed to garner a significant number of votes for Eva Joly.
It will be a disappointing night also for Jean Luc Mélenchon who hoped to poll better then Le Pen on the night, but his endorsement of Hollande (along with Joly) there is over 3 million extra votes for Hollande.
Francois Bayrou who managed to come third in 2007 is in a disappointing 5th. The long time liberal presidential candidate who’s votes were so important in the last runoff will again be very important this year as both Sarkozy and Hollande attempt to woo them at the centre, while also wooing those at the extremes. It will be a hard balancing act.
Related articles
- French Election Results: Exit Poll (stephenspillane.com)
- Hollande wins first round with 28.5 per cent (laaska.wordpress.com)
- Hollande overcomes Sarkozy in French poll (irishexaminer.com)
- The surprising resilience of Sarko (blogs.ft.com)
- French Presidential Election, 2012 (stephenspillane.com)
- Hoping for the internationalist victory in France (williamquill.com)
